


Ghost

by Noemi_Artistries



Series: Fire Flowers - Kidge [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Friendship, Gen, I'm sorry for echo, Love, Survival, its a bit better, sorry for this one too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-12
Updated: 2018-04-12
Packaged: 2019-04-22 01:12:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14297517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noemi_Artistries/pseuds/Noemi_Artistries
Summary: Shortly after hearing of the terrible news about Keith, the gang head over to the hospital as soon as possible.Soon enough, Pidge makes a medical discovery.





	Ghost

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is greatly appreciated :)
> 
> Also, why didn't anyone correct me about Pidge's mom's name?! The poor woman's name is Colleen, not "Coreen".

It was a Saturday morning, and the stars still shined bright in the sky, bringing forth a grin and smile to onlookers.

It seemed that everyone was looking at the stars that night.

Well, almost everyone.

Light pollution rose into the sky as a stream of cars raced to an angelic white building.

A hospital's emergency room.

The minute a particular black car parked in front of the Washington D.C. Hospital, a young woman hopped right out and dashed right into the hospital's ER.

"Katie! Wait!" Matt Holt cried out, the brother of the blonde woman that dashed into the ER.

She was quickly joined by another man, with streaks of white in his hair; Takashi Shirogane, or Shiro for short.

In hot pursuit were Katie "Pidge" Holt's good friends, Lance, Hunk, Allura, and Coran. Her parents, Sam and Colleen Holt were also dashing after her.

Pidge breathlessly ran up to the front desk, slamming her hands onto the counter.

"H-hello!" She began, breathless. "Has someone by the name of Keith Kogane arrive? F-from the W-Washington Airport?"

The nurse before gave her a sad look, understanding immediately.

Just a week ago, Keith Kogane was smiling at her. A week ago, the thought of never running her hands through his hair ever again never even crossed Pidge's mind. A week ago, Pidge forgot that death still existed.

And that it could still take the people she loved away in a heartbeat.

Keith had gone on an internship visit in Washington D.C. Pidge had bugged him to try and come back early so that they could celebrate her birthday just yesterday. Before he even got the chance to though, assailants attacked the airport and Keith, along with many others were horribly injured and buried in the rubble.

And now, the people, both surviving and dead were here, in this hospital.

"Keith Kogane, correct?" The nurse asked.

Pidge nodded, barely aware that her friends and family behind her were also feverishly nodding.

She typed something in her computer, and starting scrolling down a file.

Pidge held her breath. Please don't be in the morgue... Please Keith... Please, she thought to herself.

The woman grabbed a piece of paper and wrote something down before handing it to Pidge.

"Who are you to him again" She had asked before giving the paper to Pidge.

"I'm... I'm-" She began, words stuck in her throat.

"I'm his brother," Shiro began. "And they are all the closest thing to his family."

The woman looked at Pidge before smiling sadly. "You all are awfully lucky," She began. "75 percent of the people in that airport are no longer with us. Mr. Keith Kogane is among the 24 percent surviving. Here is his room number. He just got out of surgery."

"SURGERY?!" They all cried out.

"According to these doctor notes, his lungs were horribly damaged, and his legs were slightly crushed as well. The doctors saved his legs but we aren't sure about his chest area yet."

"His chest area. Where his lungs are." Pidge began, her voice hoarse. "Are you saying he's having trouble breathing?"

The nurse nodded. "Unfortunately yes. He's lucky he's even breathing now. He would be happy to see you."

Pidge raced away from the nurse, looking at the room number.

"Room 228." She called out as she began to run. She raced up the stairs and nearly tripped over the door.

She gently gripped the door handle and took a shuddering breath.

She pushed, and open the door.

The room was dark, basked in moonlight. The blue tinted light illuminated the bed before her, and the face of Keith Kogane as well.

Keith looked horribly pale, his body still, bags under his eyes. There were a couple of patches on his fave, covering scars. He had an oxygen mask on, raspy breaths easing in, and out.

Despite everything, he was still alive.

Pidge's eyes watered as she neared his bedside, gently placing a hand on his head, patting his hair. It was soft, most likely newly washed from the blood.

Thankfully the nurse hadn't said anything about brain damage. That would have been horrible.

"Oh my God." Lance's voice carried throughout the room. "I- No way..."

"Oh dear. Oh God, Keith..." Hunk walked next to his bedside, gently patting Keith's forehead, pushing some hair away from his closed eyes.

"Oh thank God..." Shiro shuddered as he sank to the floor. Sam and Matt sat down and placed a supportive hand on his back.

Allura and Coran walked next to Keith's bedside, tears webbing in the former's eyes.

Colleen walked next to Pidge and placed a loving hand on her daughter's shoulder. Pidge's eyes were fixed on her significant other's face. The only thing grounding her in this situation was the constant, somewhat consistent "beep" of the heart pacemaker.

They stayed that way for a long while, before Shiro mumbled about needing some air, and Sam and Matt frantically followed him, worried about the state of their friend. Hunk mumbled about getting some food for the gang, and asking Lance for some help with the carrying. Lance obliged while Allura and Coran went to get coffee, bags starting to appear in their eyes. This was all of their's fifth coffee cup.

Soon Pidge was alone with Keith in the moonlit room. No one even bothered to open the lights. She gently brushed her fingers through the bedridden man's hair, smiling lightly at him.

"Hey Keith. Nice to see you again." Pidge mumbled, finally breaking the silence.

"You know, this is probably the best thing you could have given me for my birthday." She said, placing a light kiss on his forehead. "You're my Samurai; you never stop fighting and I'n glad that when..." She choked on her words. "I'm glad that when those... Horrible people attacked, you kept fighting, you kept living for us. For yourself. I wonder if you were thinking about me when it happened..."

"I was."

Pidge looked up suddenly, frantically glancing around.

"What the- Is someone here with me?" She asked.

"Pidge... Look up sweetie."

She slowly lifted her eyes to see... Keith. But he was glowing red, and transparent. Pidge's eyes widened as she rose to her feet. She opened her mouth to scream but Keith,... Or the being before her frantically waved his hands over her face.

"Wait Pidgeon! I-I can explain! It's me! Akira." The ghost said.

Ghost, Pidge thought. The transparent Keith, with his tinted red glow, had the white beanie she knitted for him on his head, slightly stained with blood. The red jacket Pidge had last seen him with was drenched in the blood, shading the clothing a darker red. His jeans were also stained in crimson red as well.

"Keith..?" She began, tears welling down her face. "Y-you're d-dea-"

"No!" Keith began. "No Katie. Uh... I think it might be a coma or something?"

"You think it might be a coma or something. Oh my God Keith. Why is your spirit talking to me instead of your body?"

"Because my body currently is filled with anesthesia and pain that being out here is better."

Pidge fell silent. She knew Keith was blunt, but hearing him being that nonchalant about what had happened felt chilling.

"H-How do you feel?" She tried.

Keith shifted down, looking downcast. "I'm okay. Honestly, I'm just glad that... I'm sorry Katie."

Pidge looked at him with sad eyes. "What for Samurai?"

His eyes appeared glossy. "This ENTIRE thing... I was looking forward to your birthday Katie. Now you're here, by my bedside, maybe waiting for my death."

"Akira Kogane, you shut that dirty mouth! You are not going to die. Not on my watch." Pidge began, tears flowing like a waterfall.

Keith gave her a sad smile. "Yeah, sure. I'm sorry Katie. I'm sorry I'm so blunt."

"It's fine."

"It's not fine." Pidge looked up at her boyfriend's face, surprised. "It's not okay Katie. It's not okay. You didn't need to hear that right now."

"Well maybe one of the things I love about you is how open you are." Keith gave her a sad look, his own ghostly tears streaming down.

"You're honest and in your own way, caring. You'd do anything to protect the people you care about. You and I are both like that Akira. Stop worrying. You'll make it through this."

Keith looked at her, before chuckling as he wiped his tears away.

"Hey, if I made it this far..."

"You can make it through this too. I know you can Akira."

"I love you Katie."

Pidge shivered for a moment. Those were the same words that echoed in her mind when she learned about Keith's condition from the news just last night.

How things can both change and stay the same in the span of one night.

"I love you so much Keith. I really do."

"I do too."

"Now get back in your body you dummy."

Keith chuckled. "Okay Queen Katelyn of the Holt Empire."

"You dare to disobey your queen, my Knight?"

"Never. See you soon Katie. Hopefully."

"Hopefully."

The moment that felt like eons lasted only a couple of minutes, and by the time the gang came back, Pidge was already asleep, her hand in Keith's.

And a couple of days later, ironically enough, Pidge was alone with Keith again when his eyes suddenly slid open, vibrant violet still masked in fire.

"Hello your highness." He mumbled, smiling at a shocked Pidge.

"Oh my God!" She lunged forward and hugged him tight, planting kisses all over the latter's face.

"Oh thank God. Keeeeeeeeeeeeeef." Pidge mumbled. "I missed you sooooooo much."

Keith smiled into her hair. "Glad ghost me got a chance to talk to you Katie."

"I'm glad too. The medical discovery of the century."

Keith laughed. "Oh my God Pidge, never change."

Pidge smiled. "Don't plan to. You do realize that now none of us will let you go anywhere alone now, right?"

Keith closed his eyes and huffed, the smile still on hid face. "Yeah, I guess so."

Pidge cupped his face into her hands and pressed a kiss to his temple. "Do not run away Samurai. Shiro has been in a panic since Friday."

"Would never dream of it." He said with a smirk.

And as the gang all crowded in to the now familiar room, Pidge made sure to still hold Keith's hand. Even with him waking up, Pidge still had the urge to touch him, feel his pulse.

Know that his spirit, his ghost, is still there, with them. 

**Author's Note:**

> OKAYI'MSORRYFORTHEANGSTBUT I'll be honest... This story is a follow up to a story that originally wasn't going to have a follow up. 
> 
> Echo, the original to this story, was normally going to end... the way it ended. However, a combination of my regret and strong reactions from you wonderful readers drove me to write this. 
> 
> I only want to write this note so people know that technically, in the conditions of this particular college au story, Keith dies and remains dead... This story is an au of an au. 
> 
> I'm glad though that people reacted this greatly to it though. I don't know what drove me to write angst, but it helped me in writing practice for a technique that is infamous in literature; the red herring. 
> 
> Purposefully writing the story light hearted, distracting the plot from the little hints leading up to the horrible reveal is exactly what a red herring is. I feel horrible for using Pidge's birthday as a red herring but... It DID work. 
> 
> Thank you all for reading. I'm so sorry if I upset any of you. Still though, I'm glad you all drove me to write this. It makes for good closure. :DDDDD


End file.
